86 Street (1) - The SubwayNut

86 Street is an opening day on the IRT local station with two side platforms and on platform fare control areas, with no free crossover or under. For platform decor a small area on the original shorter platform has kept the original mosaic and terra-cotta wall reliefs consisting of a trim of blue with some 86 cornucopias that look very similar to those that remain at 79 Street. There are also a few Men and Women reliefs, and a lot of the decoration molding on the ceiling remains intact and more decorative fixtures for incandescent light bulbs (with a few bulbs still in the ceiling). The northern extension half of the station has the generic 1950s pink trimline with 86th St written in it at various intervals (96th, 66th, and 59th used to all have this tiling, 79th still does) and cream colored tiles, but there is a community mural project in this area of West Side scenes.

For access both of the main fare control areas have turnstiles. The downtown platofrm side still has the open token booth, the uptown platform's is abandoned. This booth was closed in June 2011 yet to be removed like so many others in the system since they became permanently unstaffed, and removed by March 2013 leaving an odd, empty space. Each has a streetstair out to both sides of 86 Street on its respective side of Broadway.

Towards the northern end of the downtown platform there is also a newer entrance from within a building on the SW corner of 87 Street (that is one of the zoning bonuses entrances) it leads down to a tiny fare control area with three turnstiles. The area at platform level is so tiny that the MVMs for this entrance are located at the upper landing clearly visibe and basically on the street. This entrance used to be open during rush hours only (through the mid-2000s, see photo) but now is still staffed during rush hours amazingly enough but left unstaffed and open full time, during non-rush hours.
Photos 1 & 2: September 27, 2003; 3-10: June 26, 2008; 11-18: June 8, 2011; 19-29: June 29, 2011;

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The 87 Street entrance on a weekend when it was still just open during weekday rush hours, notice its MVMs at street level

A LED changing sign display at 86 Street. This sign was shortly later removed due to community opposition on having 'billboards like this in the residential neighborhood'

The original portion of the station still with its wall decorations, although some over tiling has been done

A close up of a cornucopia in the trimline and the intensely decorative reliefs in the cieling

Another close up of all the reliefs in the ceiling, notice the bare and off incandescent light bulb

A blue simple 86 trim relief, the same types are found at 79 St, 145 St, and 155 St, although those are not blue

A decorative tiled and original pillar, although new white tiles have covered over a portion of it

One of the original name tablets like so many at other stations

Another view of all the decorative terra-cotta in the roof of the downtown platform

The modern, inside a newly built building, entrance from 87 Street

Looking down the downtown platform at 86 Street

86th St in the modern pink trimline in the extension portion of the station

Approaching the 87 Street exit

The three turnstiles in the tiny fare control area at the 87 Street exit

About to go up the stairs from 87 Street

Approaching the MVMs at the upper landing

Dipping beneath the street at the 87 Street entrance, notice that it is still staffed during rush hours

The 87 Street entrance inside its building front of a large modern tower

The main exit from the downtown platform to 86 Street

Passengers wait for a downtown train, the newsstand beyond in the extension portion of 86 Street

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